Motor driven operators for garage doors and other barriers have been developed which have the capability of controlling movement of the door to limit the door closing force in the event that an obstruction is disposed in the door movement path. Various types of operator controllers have been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,282 to Duhame discloses, for example, a garage door operator controller which senses the speed of the operator motor and utilizes speed change to indicate when motor torque, and thus the door closing force, exceeds a predetermined value. The user may adjust the door closing force and opening force by setting a speed sensor signal value, which correlates with motor torque and thus force exerted by the door, to predetermined limits to prevent damage to the door, the operator or an object in the path of movement of the door or barrier.
Other types of force sensing door operators have been developed including that disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,243 to Reed et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The operator controller disclosed in the Reed et al. patent senses a change in current supplied to the operator electric motor which is correlated with motor torque and the force exerted by the operator on the door. User adjustable opening and closing force limits are provided which set the maximum motor current at which a signal is provided to effect stopping and reversing the operator motor, if the door is moving in the closed direction, and at least stopping the motor if the door is moving in the opening direction. However, the complexity of setting two limits by the typical barrier operator user may result in malfunctioning of the operator and frustration on the part of the user in setting the limits. Simplification of user settable controls is desirable for certain consumer products, including products such as residential garage door operators. Accordingly, there has been a need and desire to simplify user settable controls for barrier operators including, in particular, residential garage door operators. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.